Can washing machine



May 16, 1933. H, KENDALL CAN WASHING MACHINE 3 Sheets-SheetI l Filed Jan.v 50, 1950 I 2 NIWHWIJ "II Il I ML )l lll D 3 3|'- m u 11A J.. rmwL 2, 9. O 3 5A mm 2 .IIIT n.n -.w 9 mld l 7 5 i m. .2 lill 2 w r a m mw 2i nL f /%n M w f( L il, J v

mvENToR 1 1 jy, BY

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ATTORNEY S May 16, 1933- l. H. KENDALL CAN WASHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 30, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheetv 2 NVENTOR WM ATTORNEY S May 15 1933- l. H. KENDALL 1,909,835

CAN WASHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 50, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 HHH! u" il I INVENT-oR 1 3L www ATTORNEYS Patented May 16, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT omer. i

' l IRA H. KENDALL, OE POTSDAM, NEW YORK, AssrGNoR To GENEVIEVE A. KENDALL, or

POTSDAM, NEW YORK Y I Y.

GAN WASHING MACHINE Application filed January 30, 1930. Serial No. 424,481.

m vide a machine which may be operated by hand and which shall include a jet or jets whereby the can or other Object can be subjected to the action of steam.

Another object of my invention is to provide a machine of this type in which the supply of steam shall be regulated yby an automatic time control, so that steam will not be wasted if a careless attendant neglects the machine. While the automatictime control is particularly valuable in controlling the supply of steam, it can also be Yused for controlling the supply of any other fluid which is supplied to the machine.

Another object of my invention is to provide a machine of this type in which the time control is hydraulic.

Another object of my invention is to provide a machine of this type in Which the time control is set into operation at each actuation of the machine.

Another object of my invention `is to provide a simple and efficient machine having a minimum number of parts, and which can be manufactured at relatively low cost.

Other objects of my invention will beset forth in the following description and drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment thereof, it being understood that the above general statement of the objects of my in-` vention is intended merely to generally explain the same and not to limit it in any manner.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation.

Fig. 2 is a top View. p.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Y

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line v4 4 of F ig. 3. 4This figure shows a detail of the actuating handle.

Fig. 5 is a sectional View on the line V5`5 y of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a sectional View on the line' 6-6 of Fig. 5. l

7 is a detail viewpartially in section showing the float. l

The disclosure of this application is mainly directed to the time contro-l mechanism, as the details of the mechanism whereby steam, hot water, or any other fluid is supplied to the apparatus, may follow any previously known device, including various devices which 1 have put on the market in the United States and which are illustrated in several copending applications. For this reason the details ofthe turntable whereby the cans are moved to the various steps to be washed, rinsed, steamed, etc., are not shown. Details of the nozzles for supplying steam, hot water, hot air, etc. are also not shown, as the invention is'not directed to such features per se, and such features have already been disclosed in co-pendino applications, or in machines put on the market. i

The device comprises a casing 1 mounted upon legs 2. The casing 1 is provided with an open portion 2 at which the operator stands in order to insert and remove cans. The cans C and the covers C are mounted on a turntable which is provided with a ratchet wheel 3 mounted upon a'suitable shaft. The ratchet wheel 3 is intermittently turned by a handle 4 provided with a pawl 5, having a spring 6. The handle 4 is manipulated by the attendant. The ratchet wheel 3 is pro-` vided with an upstanding tube 7 which projects through the top portion 8 `Yof the casing 1. At its top the tubular shaft 7 is provided with a ratchet 8. The ratchet 8 is adapted to outwardly slide a rod 9, which is provided with a roller 10. The rod 9 is slidably mounted on a bearing or bearings 11, and a spring 12 is provided for keeping the roller in contact with the ratchet 8. Hence, each complete stroke of the handle 4 causes the rod 9 to be reciprocated. The rod 9 actuates a bell-crank lever 14 which vis pivotally connected at 15 to the casing 1. The

Vbell-crank lever 14 reciprocates a vertical rod 16. This rod 16 is provided with an adjustj is pivotally connected at to the casing 1.

mentioned toggle arm 22. The other tog The rod 16 passes through a slot in the last (fle arm 22 has an extension whi ch passes through an opening in the lever 23, which is pivotally connected at 24 to a bracket which is lconnected to the casing 1. Hence, when the rod 16 descends, it causes the lever 23 to be turned in Vthe clockwise direction. An adjustable screw 26 may be connected to the bracket before mentioned, so as to limit the upward movement of the toggle arms 22, and a correspondingl adjustable screw 28 may be provided to limit the downward movement ci said toggle arms.

The downward movement ci the rod 16 first actuates the toggle arms 22 and the lever 23, and it then causes the lever 19 to be turned in the counterclockwise direction. 'Vhen the lever 19 is thus turned from the position shown in Fig. 1, to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 7, it opens the valve 30 which is located at the bottom of the control chainber 31. The valve 30 vis normally kept closed by its own weight and by the weight of the water in the control chamber 31. The control chamber 31 is also provided with a float F having an upstanding rod which abuts ghe lever 36, for a purpose to be later speci- The stem of the valve 30 can be provided with large recesses so that the valve 30 is a quick-acting valve which permits the water in the control chamber 31 to drain out therefrom very rapidly.

Hence, although the lever 19 is raised for a short period, the water in the chamber 31 drains out so rapidly, that the float F is free to descend to reseat the valve 30. It desired, the stem of the valve 30 could have a certain frictional lit so as to keep said valve 30 raised after the same has been opened by the lever `19 until the float F descends to reseat the valve 30. Likewise, it desired, the valve 30 could be providedwith a spring catch ot suitficient strength to keep it in the open position after the said valve has been forced to said open position by the lever 19, until the float F descends to reseat the valve 30.

The control chamber 31 receives its water supply from a pipe'32 having its inlet below` a supply pipe 33 having valve 33 which is connected to any suitable source o water, so that a stream of regulated velocity enters the pipe 32. The pipe 33 is controlled by an ordinary poppet valve 34 which can be held in the open position by a lever 36 pivotally mounted at 37 and provided with an adjustparatus.

able weight 38. Hence, when the float F descends so that its rod 35 no longer touches the lever 36, said lever 36 can turn downwardly to open the valve 34. However, when the float F is raised by the inflow of water into the control chamber 31, the valve 34 is permitted to Close, because the' lever 36 is raised. The float F has a diameter which is nearly the same as the diameter of the chamber 31. Hence, when enough water has. entered-the control chamber 31, to raise the iioat F from the valve 30, the pressure of said water is sufficient to hold the valve 30 in the closed position.

The lever 36 is provided with a depending rod 39 pivotally mounted thereto, and said rod 39 has an adjustable member 40 which is adapted to raise theA toggle arms22 so that the lever 23 is then free to turn in the counterclockwise direction.

When the lever 23 is turned in the clockwise direction by the toggle arms 22, this opens the control valve V through which steam or other fluid is supplied to the ap- This valve V is kept open for a regulable and pre-determined period of time, that is, until the floatV F moves the lever 36 back to its horizontal position shown in Fig. 1. l/Vhen this has been done, the valve V is ree to close, because the lever 23 is no longer being pressed against its stem. The valve V cannot be opened until the handle 4 is again manipulated by the attendant to actuate the turntable for another fraction of a revolution. Hence, even if acareless attendant neglects the machine for a considerable period of time, there is no Waste of steam or other `fluid, because the time control mechanism is set into operation by each actuation of the machine, and a supply of steam or other fluid is cut off after a pre-determined period of time, until the machine is again actuated.

The water which drains from the control chamber 31 falls into the collecting charnber 32.

Steam is supplied to a tank so that the steam condenses into hot Water in said tank 45, as long as the steam cannot pass out of said tank. This condensing tank 45 is connected to an outlet pipe 42. which is controlled by the valve V. Said outlet pipe 42 is connected to branch pipe 43, and this is connected to the station marked Rinse and steam in Fig. 2. The steam pressure operates to. rst force the hot water into the interior of the at this station, and ylive steam is then forced into the interior of the can at this station.

The outlet pipe 42 is also connected to the branch pipe 44, and this is connected to the ejector which withdraws the clean water from the collecting chamber 32, and forces it upwardly through the pipe 51 through the outside washing heads 52 and 53.V The clean hot Water thus produced is sprayed upon the outsides of the receptacles or their covers.

As diagrainmatically illustrated in Fig. 2, the cans are passed through two stations at which they are washed, they are then moved to another station at which they are rinsed and steamed, and they are iinally dried and then moved back to the original station or position in which a clean and dried can is unloaded, and another can is inserted into the machine. The stem of the valve V is provided with a spring so that the member 23 is normally` in the position shown in Fig. 5.

It will be noted that when the rod 16 is caused to descend by the movement of the actuating means 4, that the valve V is opened and it remains in open position because the toggle arms 22 are then moved to a position which is substantially horizontal or else they are moved below the horizontal position. The force of the spring of the valve V is then insufficient to move the toggle arms reversely in order to close said valve, even when the rod 16 moves upwardly. The rod 39 acts to reseat or reset the valve V in its original closed position by upwardly moving the toggle arms 22. The resetting device is operated by the time control mechanism, which consists of the parts previously described.

While I prefer to cause the valve V to b-e automatically opened when the conveyor on which the receptacles or the like are mounted is given an intermittent movement, my invention by no means is to be limited to this feature. An important feature of the invention is that after the valve or valves V are opened, they are held open until they are caused to be automatically closed by the control mechanism. It will be noted that the closing of the valve V is produced by a time Y control device whose action is independent of the cessation of the movement of the conveyor or turntable on which the cans are mounted. This is an important feature of my invention because it is especially designed for use in machines in which the turntable or the like is manually operated. Since the conveyor is intermittently and manually operated, a time control device would be of no value if it shut oii the supply of fluid after a predetermined number of intermittent movements of the conveyor.

I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, but it is clear that numerous changes and omissions can be made Without departing from its spirit.

I claim:

l. An apparatus Jfor Washing receptacles comprising a conveyor for said receptacles, actuating means adapted to actuate said conveyor, a supply pipe adapted to supply fluid to the apparatus, a control valve for said pipe, a time control apparatus for said valve,

and connecting means between said actuating ing constructed and adapted to ,operatev in- `dependently of the cessation of the movement of 'the conveyor.

2. Ian apparatustor Washing receptacles', the Vcoinbinationlof a-,supply pipe adapted to supply Huid to saidapparatus, a controlvalve for said pipe, a conveyor for the receptacles, actuating means adapted to actuate said conveyor, connecting means between said valve and said actuating means and adapted to open said valve and to keep it open when said actuating means are moved, and a resetting device adapted to cause the closing of said valve, said resetting device being operated by a time control mechanism.

3. In an apparatus for washing receptacles,

the combination of a pipe adapted to supplyl fluid to said apparatus, a control'valve for said pipe, mechanism including a pair `oi toggle arms and adapted to force said valve to the open position, actuating means adapted to actuate said toggle arms, to cause said valve to be opened, said actuating means'being effective to force said toggle arms into a position in which they remain after the actu-l ating force has ceased so that saidvalve is thereby held in the open position, and a resetting device adapted to move said toggle arms back to their original position, and a time control mechanism adapted to operate said resetting device.

4. An apparatus Jor washing receptacles or the like comprising a conveyor for said receptacles, actuating means adapted to actuate said conveyor, a supply pipe adapted to supply iiuid to said apparatus, a control valve for said pipe, valve-operating means for said controlvalve and operated by said actuating means, a float chamber having a float therein, a water-supply pipe connected to said float chamber, said water-supply pipe having a valve therein, said float chamber having a drain valve independentof said float, an unseating device for said drain valve operable by said valve-operating means, and a member operable by the upward movement of said float in said float chamber when water is admitted therein to reset said valve-operating means and to close said control valve, and another member operable by the downward movement of said float to open the valve of said Water-supply pipe. e

5. An apparatus for washing receptacles comprising a conveyor for said receptacles, manually operated means for intermittently moving said conveyor in the same direction, a supply pipe adapted to supply liuid to the apparatus, a control valve for said pipe, a time control apparatus for said valve, means connected to said operating means and adapted to automatically open said control valve and to automatically set said automatic time control device into operation at each intermittent movement of said conveyor, said control device being adapted to automatically close said valve at the expiration of a predetermined time interval after each intermittent operation of said conveyor, said time control device being constructed and adapted to operate independently of the cessation of the movement of the conveyor.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

IRA H. KENDALL. 

